ISIS is growing increasingly desperate as it loses its grip on Raqqa, Syria.
ISIS sees Raqqa as its capital, where its home mosque lies.
ISIS has begun shooting at civilians trying to leave Raqqa.
ISIS soldiers want to hide among the civilians. The civilians just want to live. For them, what was once home is just another war zone.
“When someone tried to flee, they were attacked by bullets and forced to return home,” explained Raqqa refugee Amina Ali, who now lives in a camp outside the city. “They were later punished.”
The lucky few who reach refugee camps live in harsh conditions—but they are alive.
“Conditions here are tough as you see,” Ali said. “We need something to sleep on, there is no food, no clothes for the children.”
Raqqa is being destroyed by U.S.-led airstrikes, artillery attacks, and grenades.
The air strikes might have killed as many as 300 civilians.
Whole blocks of buildings have been leveled.
Only 3,000-4,000 ISIS terrorists remain in Raqqa.
The price for driving them out might just be everything the few remaining residents have.
